Method for steam-boiler economizer systems



April 14, 1931. 5 JACOBUS 1,800,217

uswnon FOR STEAM BOILER ECONOLIZER SYSTEMS Filed July 7, 1923 %,6&M v ATJORNEYS mizer 12,

Patented Apr. 14, 1931' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE navm s. .mconus, or messy cm,

NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOE TO THE BABCOCK &

WILCOZ COMPANY, OF BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY METHOD FOR STEAM-BOILER ECONOMIZEB SYSTEMS i Application filed July 7,

My present invention is a continuation in art of my application -ai erial No. 365,439, ed March 13, 1920, andhas for its object the provision of methods by which air and gases may be removed from the feed water of boilers before passing into a high-pressure economizer, in which such air and' gases might have a corrodi-ng-efiect if not removed. My invention will .be best understood from the following description and the annexed drawing of an illustrative embodiment, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the high and the low pressure stages of an economizer and a part-of a boiler, together with apparatus and connections .em-

bodying one form of my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an. enlargement'in section of a detail of the apparatus showninFig. l,

and Fig. 3 shows a section of an orifice-plate that may be used in shown in Fig. 1. Like reference characters indicate like parts in the several views.'-. r

Referring to Fig. 1, 10 'rep'resents a boiler 2 of any standard design, the form illus trated having a transverse steam and water drum 11' and a high-pressure stage 12 of an economizer over which the waste ases from the boiler pass downwardly. T ese gases pass through an opening 13 into a horizontal flue in which are tubes of the low-pressure stage 14 of the economizer, the gases passing through the-flue 15 and the fan 16 to the stack 17. The fan 16 is driven, in the illustrative form, by the engine 18.

place of one of the valves A receptacle or tank 19 is interposedbe-.

tween the high and the low-pressure stages of the economizer, the water passing through the pipe 20 from the low-pressure sta e of the economizer into the upper part 0 the tank, from which it passes downward over baflles From the tank 19 the waten passes through the pipe 21 into a tank 22. This tank 22 is vented through the pipe 23 and valve 24 into the upper part of the tank 19. From the tank 22 the water asses through the pipe 25 into a pump 26 y which it is forced through the pipe 27 into the lower part of the an from thence lnto the boiler.

1923. Serial No. 649,988.

The feed water is forced from the hot well 28 by the centrifugal pump 29 through the pipe 29' into the low-pressure stage 14 of the economizer.

The tank 19 is provided with a vent pipe 30 having a restriction and preferably provided with some arrangement by which the size of this restriction may be altered. In the form illustrated in Fig. 1, I have shown a combined relief valve and vent which may be readily adjusted, a casing 31 being con nected at the upper end of the pipe 30 and having a sliding valve 32 connected to a lever 33 pivoted in the usual manner and having a stop '34 resting on the head of an ad]usting screw 35. The arrangement is such that the-weights on the lever 33 will normally hold the valve 32 downward in a position determined by the height of the adjusting screw 35, so' that there will normally be an opening through the valve 30 into the waste pipe 36. By adjusting the height of the screw-35, the size of the vent opening through the valve 32 may be altered. It will also be observed that if the pressure in the pipe 30 for any reason becomes greater than it should be, the valve 32 will lift to relieve this pressure.

The level of the water in the tank 19 is maintained constant by a float 39 connected to a valve 40 in a steam line 41 extending to the ump 29, so that as the level of the water in tank 19, falls, steam will be supplied to the pump to bring the level back to normal.

The tank 19 is supplied throu h 42 with steam which mingles wit the water to heat it as it falls over the bafiie plates in the upper part of the tank 19. This steam the pipe may be made up of waste from the various sive to the pressure in the pipe 47, which, in turn, is substantially that of the pressure in the tank 19. By this arrangement live steam I will be supplied past the valve 48 to maintain the pressure in the tank 19 at some predetermined point, the restricted opening through the pipe 23 creating a, bark pressure, when the steam supplied to the tank 19 is not absorbed by the incoming water, to thereby out off the supply of livesteam through the pipe 46.

The tank 22, in the illustrative form, is supplied with steam coils 49 supplied through a pipe 50 from the steam line 45, the steam, in the illustrative embodiment, passing directly into the water in the tank 22 through perforations in the coils 49. A valve 51 in the pipe 50 is controlled by the pressure in the tank 22 above the surface of the water therein by means of a pipe 52 connecting the controlling mechanism of the valve with the tank 22. A float 53 controlling a valve 54 in the pipe 21 maintains the level in the tank 22 substantially constant. The water from the hot well 28, after passing through 'the low-pressure stage 14, flows to the tank 19 through the pipe 20 and is there heated by the waste steam and also the live steam, if required, and then passes through the pipe 21 into the tank 22. Preferably the water will be heated in the tank 19 to something less than boiling point, say,

180 to 190 F., and where there is a large amount of air in the water, this will drive off through the vent pipe 30 by far the larger portion of the air and other non-condensible gases. The water now passes to the tank 22, where the supply of live steam through the pipe 50 is controlled bythe pressure-regulated valve 51 to maintain a given pressure of steam above the water in the tank 22. The valve 24 in the pipe 23 which leads from the tank 22 is regulated in such manner that there will be suiiiciently active boiling of the water in the tank 22 to drive off substantially all of the remaining air and gases. It is obvious that the steam driven off from the water in the tank 22 will create a back pressure in comparison with the pressure in. tank 19, due to the restricted vent at valve 24, which, when such back pressure passes a predetermined point, will close off the supply of steam through the valve 51.

The arrangement which I have described provides a means by which the water may be boiled in the tank 22 without undue waste of steam, regardless of the varying amounts of water passing through the tank 22. It will be obvious that when the boiler is being driven at a high rating, a greater amount of water will pass through the tank 22 than when the boiler is operating at a low rating. In this latter instance, the water would be subjected to the steam from the pipe 49 for a longer time than in the former case, and, therefore, the steam driven off from the water would be greater in amount. Consequently a back pressure would be created, which would close 01? the valve 51.

By providing the arrangement by which the size of the opening in the vent pipe may be varied, it will be obvious that the apparatus may be adjusted to different methods of operation. It the boiler operated at a'high rating, then valve 21 will be shifted to permanently increase the opening in the pipe 23. Instead of valve 2t, the relatively .fixed arrangement, such as that shown in Fig. 3, may be provided. In this case the two parts of the pipe 23 are connected by a kind of coupling 37, between the flanges of which is a plate 38 having size of opening desired. It will be obvious that the sizes of the opening in this arrangement may be changed if so desired by opening the coupling 37 and substituting a plate having a different size opening for the plate 38.

It will be noted that the heat of the steam passing from the tank 22 is returned to the water in the tank 19, and that the vent 30 serves as a common vent both for the tank 19 and the tank 22. be obvious that while I have shown my system in connection with a tw0-stage economizer, it may be used with a single stage high-pressure economizer, and that features of my invention may be used alone or in combination, as illustrated.

My arrangement, however, as illustrated, is particularly adapted for a two-stage economizer because the increased temperature of the feed water supplied to the high-pressure stage will not result in any material loss in eiliciency, since any small difference in temperature of the flue gases. leaving such high-pressure stage due to the increase in heat of the feed water will be overcome by the increased heat absorption in the lowpressure stage; By regulating the supply of live steam for heatin purposes by means of the pressure in the heating tank, such supply may be closely regulated without waste to maintain the desired temperatures in the water in the tanks.

I claim:

1. The method of removing air and gases from water which comprises heating the water and removing a portion of the air therefrom in a vessel closed to the atmosphere and provided with a vent pipe, conducting the water which is partly free from air from said vessel to a second vessel closed to the atmosphere in which the water is boiled to further remove the air, conducting the steam produced-by boiling the water in said second vessel and any contained air to said first-named vessel and discharging the air through the vent in said first-named vessel.

2. The method of removing air and gases from water which comprises heating the water and removing a portion of the air therefrom in a vessel closed to the atmosphere and provided with a vent pipe, con- It will also ducting the water which is partly free from air from said vessel to a second vessel closed to the atmosphere in which the water is boiled by means of steam to further remove the air, conducting the steam produced by boiling the water in said second vessel and any contained air to said' first-named vessel and discharging the air through the vent in said first-named vessel.

3. The method of removing air and gases from Water which comprises heating the water and; removing a portion of the air therefrom in a vessel closed to the atmosphere and provided with a vent pipe, con ducting the water which is partly free from air from said vessel to a second vesselplosed to the atmosphere in which the water is 1 boiled by means of steam which is passed into the water, to further remove the air, conducting the steam produced by boiling the water in said second vessel and any contained air to said first-named vessel and discharging the air through the vent in said first-named vessel.

DAVID S. JACOBUS. 

